Unknown Shores
by MidnightFenrir
Summary: AU, post Lightning Returns. Lightning is a student at Nova Crystallis Academia and she's working hard for her and Serrah to keep the life they have now. One day, a new philosophy teacher arrive in the academy. Just who is this silver-haired young man who only looks like he's one or two years older than her? Teacher Hope X student Lightning. Rated T for language. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is MidnightFenrir speaking and I am proud to present you my latest fanfiction: "Unknown Shores"!**

**This is an AU post Lightning Returns fanfiction and it took me a lot of thinking to decide how I was going to write it. The summary warned you so you know what you're getting in.**

"**Blablabla" = dialogue**

**_Blablabla_= thoughts/reading**

**With that, let's get started! Enjoy.**

"_Philosophers speak of a place where myths wash like tides upon the shores of the real."_

Claire "Lightning" Farron had never been one to take much interest in gossip. There was enough about her to ignore and she never listened when it was about someone else. But it seemed like today was very much different. One can only ignore gossip so much and when every single person around you is talking about it, it becomes quite hard not to listen, be it false information or not.

"I heard he's quite young! Only three or four years older than us!"

_So what? There are even younger people in the army, you know?_

"They say he has platinum hair! But also that it goes perfectly with his green eyes!"

_And I'm the one who's strange because I have strawberry-blond hair? Give me a break..._

"Hey, look! Someone managed to get a picture of him!"

"What?! Show me! I want to see too!"

"Wow...! The guy sure looks handsome, doesn't he?"

"You bet! If only it was of better quality..."

"Hey it's not my fault! It's the photo that's bad!"

_Just what's so special about that guy?_

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Sure doesn't look like it!"

"I wouldn't mind if he asked me out..."

"Handsome, smart and not too old, just perfect!"

_Just knock it off already!_

"But I heard that several girls already asked him to go out with them and they were all rejected."

"You think he's gay? What a shame."

_That's it! I had enough!_

*Blam*

"Can't you just stop talking about that guy for a god damn minute?! There are people trying to work here! If the only thing you have to do is squeal, you can do it outside!" the blue eyed pinkette shouted as she slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

Around her, the whole library fell silent before other voices also raised in agreement and the whle gossip club left, grumbling something about the "ice queen that kills all the fun".

"Tch! Sometimes, I swear..." Lightning muttered to herself as she sat down again and tried to focus on the book she was reading.

_...it is at such a prize only that one can be considered a human being, which means-_

"Well, sunshine, I see that you still live up to your names!"

But, it seemed, to no avail. Closing the book with a resigned sigh, Lightning turned to face her interlocutor.

"What I said to those gossipers is also true for you, Fang. And how many times did I tell you to STOP calling me that?" she replied to the bronze-skinned woman who was looking at her with a wide grin.

"As many times as I told you I won't. And besides, you know you can't make me shut my mouth anyway." the dark-haired countered.

"I wouldn't bet on that, Oerba Yun."

"Try it, Farron."

The two glared at each other for a moment before Fang grinned and sat to face her friend, her head resting on her right hand.

"The 'ice queen' that 'strikes as fast and as suddenly as lightning', huh? How come I didn't get a pseudonym like that?"

"Is it not enough that you are called the Highwind by your peers?" Lightning retorted.

"Hey! It ain't my fault if those guys can't hand themselves in a fight ya know." Fang replied before leaning down to whisper. "And it's not as if the 'army of one' was here to challenge me."

Lightning glared at Fang once more before she shook her head. "That's in the past. I can't afford to be as careless and light-headed nowadays."

The black-haired woman sighed before leaning back. "Yeah... I guess so. Must be pretty hard for you. Having to live like that with your sister."

"I'll survive." came the reply from the pinkette. "How about you? How's it going with Vanille?"

"Glad you asked! Girl's doing great with her job and she's on her way to become the best animal caretaker around!"

"An animal caretaker and a street fighter together, huh? Who would've thought about it?" Lightning wondered out loud.

"Only people as perceptive as you, sunshine." Fang replied, blushing slightly before she stood up. "Now, I believe I have an 'appointment' to take care of. I'll see ya later!" she said as she went toward the exit.

"Don't be too hard on them!" Lightning called as her friend was going through the door and Fang waved in acknowledgment.

_'Perceptive', huh? You're saying that someone like me, who couldn't even realize what trouble she was getting in until it was too late, is perceptive?What a sick joke..._

Looking at the clock, Lightning saw that she had five minutes before the next lesson to get to the lecture hall where the *sigh* new teacher would give her and the students in the same year a presentation of his program if we wished to attend his courses. But she knew that most of the girls would go just for getting some eye-candy.

Lightning putted her book and notebooks inside her back before heading out. She hoped that the presentation wouldn't take long since she had to work right after. The less time wasted with this the better. Why was she going anyway? Maybe because there was a slim chance that the courses he would give were interesting but she knew better than to hope for something like that.

_That's right... Hope is something I cannot do anymore. I can only fail or succeed. And I will succeed, I MUST succeed. For Serah..._

_-_Change scene-

As he watched the students slowly starting to fill the lecture hall, Hope couldn't help but let out a short sigh when he clearly saw that a majority of them were girls. Just like his colleagues, he had heard that he had been the subject of most of the gossip around the entire Nova Crystallis academy and when it came to him that the fact that he was single and living alone had been leaked by God-knows-who, he hadn't been surprised to see several girls whispering and eying him on his passage, even following him. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard tomorrow that someone had created a fan club of him.

_What will it be this time? 'We will never loose Hope?' or a classic like 'We were Hopeless before'?_

Whatever it was going to be, it would only create more complications for him and he had more important matters to tend to.

Not for the first time since the day began, Hope checked his watch.

Eight to four pm.

His presentation would begin in a few minutes. He had done it three times already and this fourth one would be the last of the day. He already had several lists of students wishing to attend his courses and seventy-five percent of them were girls. Hope was to select only fifty students and he was bent on checking meticulously every single one of them to make sure they would take his courses for the sake of learning and not anything else.

Three to four.

But to be transferred here, by personal request of the headmaster no less... Were philosophy teachers that rare nowadays? Or was it that nobody was interested enough in philosophy to teach it and, maybe, become a philosopher? He couldn't understand why no found interesting something that touched everything, questioned and thought everything in very different ways. But with society as it was today, Hope somehow understood that no one asked questions about the way things happen. The medias tell and explain everything so there is no need for questions anymore.

Hope sighed heavily.

_Maybe I should have gone for economics just like dad suggested._

Four pm.

_Oh well, no turning back. Let's get this show on the road one more time._

"Good afternoon, everyone. I am the new philosophy teacher at Nova Crysallis academy. My name, is Hope Estheim."

-Scene Change-

Lightning was running. She couldn't believe she was going to be late because of Fang! The damn girl just HAD to use a street sign as a baseball bat against her opponents and making the entire fence collapse on the road leading, of course, to the lecture hall SHE was going to.

_I swear to you, Fang, next time I see you I'm going to wipe that shitty grin off your face!_

Lightning all but kicked the doors open and stood in the entrance, breathing heavily. She could feel that everyone was staring at her but she didn't care. It seemed the teacher's presentation had only began so she couldn't have missed anything truly important.

Closing the doors, she went to one the benches' corner. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that the teacher had stopped his speech to look at her. Was he going to lecture her for being later?

_If that's the case, I'm getting out of here the instant the words leave his mouth._

"Would you like me to repeat?" She heard his voice and it took her several seconds to register the fact that he was asking her.

"E-excuse me?" she replied, not sure if she had heard correctly.

"I said: Would you like me to repeat what I've said before you've arrived?" the teacher repeated.

This time, she truly looked at him. He looked young, indeed. Only slightly older than her, maybe two or three years. He had short messy silver hair and even though she was quite far, she could see his green eyes locked onto her. He was wearing brown pants along with a white and yellow jacket and a blue shirt.

"It is my fault for arriving late. I do not wish to trouble your presentation because of that. Please, proceed from where you stopped." Lightning answered as she took out her notebook and pen.

The teacher nodded. "If you wish to know, just ask me after the presentation is over."

"Will do, sir."

"So, as I was saying, the goal of my courses will not be to bombard you with loads of informations and material that you would have to assimilate over time. My objective is to make you learn how to think about things from a different angle, to question what's around us and take something from that reflection. Of course, you will still learn the way the previous philosophers before us thought about it too and you will compare your thinking to their. A lot of people say that philosophy is restricted to it's own definition. I disagree. I believe that philosophy is something that can be applied to everlasting in this world, that can touch everything as long as we think about it. But I'll get to it later in the courses. Next, I plan to..."

At that point, Lightning was writing all over her notebook to take notes of what he was saying. It was not everyday that a new teacher in philosophy appeared in the academy. Lightning herself wasn't really into it, even if she found it really interesting sometimes. But there was no doubt in her mind that Serrah would love to get the notes she would write from his courses, if she managed to get a place. Her sister wasn't done with college yet but she was showing a passion for the ways of thinking of old and how the world was going around.

Not even a dozen of minutes later, the presentation was over and Lightning had filled several pages of her notebook, writing what the man had said word-for-word sometimes. She was sure her sister would be happy to learn the same stuff that herself would.

"All right, we're done. For those of you that wish to attend the courses, please write you names on those papers. Just your names, no phone number or anything else." The teacher said as he shut down the projector and started to pack his belongings into his bag.

Lightning had to wait for the crowd of girls to finish before she could write her own name on the little space there was left in the right corner of the page. She refrained from sighing. There was no way he was going to notice her name in all of those.

"So? Do you want to know what I've said when you weren't there?" she heard his voice and she looked up to see that he was looking at her with small smile.

She shook her head. "I've heard everything I deemed important to hear. I do not think I might have missed a lot of things before I arrived anyway." she replied.

The man's smile got wider. "True. The only thing you missed was me telling the big lines of the courses' program. And it's not that much important if you will attend the courses themselves."

Lightning nodded. "Right. But I have yet to learn your name yet, sir."

"Oh, of course. How foolish of me. I'm Hope Eisthem." he presented himself before asking, "And you are?"

_Who in their right mind name their child Hope? And it's clearly not just a surname._

"Lightning, sir. Lightning Farron."

The teacher raised an eyebrow at her name but didn't ask, settling for a nod before smiling. "'Lightning', huh? I'll be sure to remember that when I check my lists."

"Sir, if I may ask, how many students asked to take you courses?"

"With you, that makes two hundred and thirteen people."

"And how many will you accept?"

"Fifty. But I'll be checking every single of those names myself when I get home. And I'm pretty sure I won't have even fifty truly interested students. And those who are interested but won't work won't stay long."

"I see..." Lightning muttered, slightly disappointed at her chances.

"But do not worry. I can already tell you will be part of those fifty that I'll choose. There is something in your eyes, miss Farron, something that tells me you wish to learn and not only for yourself." The teacher continued and Lightning's eyes widened.

"How did you-"

"Freud worked on both the human mind, the human body and the interactions between both. But it's true that it takes quite some perception to tell what people are thinking based only on their actions and what you can see at first glance."

_Who the hell is this guy? Oh well, since the cat's out of the bag..._

"Truth to be told, my sister wants to become a teacher someday and she is quite fascinated in how people thought in the past and what their methods of thinking were. So I thought that while I could kill two birds with one stone by learning and taking notes for both me and my sister." Lightning told him. There was no point in hiding it.

"Ah, I see. Well, if my courses interest her, tell your sister she can come whenever she wants to my classes. I will always have room for those who wish to learn." The silver haired replied before he lifted his bag. "And now, I will be on my way. I wish you a pleasant evening, miss Lightning."

"Likewise, sir."

As he was leaving the hall, he turned one last time.

"Oh, and drop that 'sir' nonsense. I may be a teacher but I am in no way your superior. Just call me 'Hope' or 'Mr Estheim' if you don't feel like calling me by my first name" he said before going through the door, leaving Lightning to her thoughts.

_Now that was interesting. He sure is unlike every other teacher I've met so far. Maybe that's because he's closer to us students than them in terms of age? Or maybe that's just the way he acts with everyone._

Lightning climbed the stairs and pushed the doors.

_Oh well, maybe I finally found something worth of interest rather than training and fighting._

The doors closed and she walked away.

_And now, to find Fang and that grin of her. Payback's gonna be a bitch._

**There you go! First chapter of this story.**

**I thought long and hard and I could very well have made that into a one-shot for Valentine day but, guess what, we're not valentine day.**

**I accept all comments, be it flame, praise, critics or advice.**

**This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Unknown Shores", signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everybody! It's been quite a while since the first chapter and I'm pleased to know that you are enjoying my story so far! Thinking about a plot line on your own for a fanfiction is harder than I thought it would be but I'm doing my best to give you something that you will like!**

**And now, let us go to the second chapter of "Unknown Shores"**

-Lightning's POV-

Wiping the sweat off her face with a wet towel, Lightning took a deep breath to calm herself. It had been quite a while since she had done any physical exercise, let alone fight.

_But still, it felt damn good._

She had managed to let off quite a huge amount of stress and frustration in her spar with Fang and this made her feel quite refreshed despite her physical tireness.

"Well,*cough cough*, I'll be damned but you putted in some extra energy today, sunshine." Her sparring partner said, lying against a wall as she breathed heavily. "What did I do to deserve that?"

Lightning looked down on the dark-haired woman, who still had her ever-present grin despite her best efforts to erase it.

"THAT was for making me late." She scowled back. "Did you really have to use a street sign and destroy the whole god-damn fence with it?!"

"'Guy had an iron pipe. It was only fair that I use a weapon too. As for the fence… well, collateral damage, y' know."

"More like 'natural disaster' to me…" Lightning muttered before pausing looking at her friend once more. "And wipe that grin off your face! I have about one hour to get home and change so that Serah doesn't realize I got into a fight… again, and I don't want to beat to you to a pulp one more time!" She exclaimed, her anger rising once again.

Fang only smiled wider. "No can do. Fightin' with ya is just too fun." She said before giving her pink-haired friend a teasing look. "And don't tell me you didn't enjoy it. It's all written on your face."

Lightning huffed in disdain at Fang's comment before throwing her towel to Fang, who received it in said face with a groan and started to wipe the sweat and dirt.

"So… How was the new guy? Girls are sayin' he's hot." The dark-haired started to talk again, much to Lightning's displeasure, as she pressed the towel on her left cheek, where one of the pinkette's blows had managed to catch her off guard.

Lightning sighed in annoyance. "Again with the gossip?" she said, shaking her head. "I mean, sure he's quite young to be a teacher at the Academy but still… he's not that special." She answered as she leaned against the wall and crosses her arms.

"You didn't answer the question, Farron. Is. He. Hot?" Fang replied with a grin, knowing her friend was trying to dodge the subject.

_Gah! How can she be so annoying?! But two can play at that game._

"Why does it matter to you? Last time I checked, you weren't into guys." Lightning countered.

"It matters to me, sunshine, because I want to know if my best friend is finally considering getting laid." The dark-haired answered with a straight face.

If she had been drinking, Lightning would have spit or choked her drink in shock. In fact, she choked.

_What the hell?! You've got to be kidding me!_

"Fang! He's a TEACHER, for God's sake!" she exclaimed in indignation. "Even if I was interested in him, there's no way it would work!"

"Ah… But ARE you interested, or not?" Fang continued to pry with a teasing grin.

"Ugh… This is going nowhere! And I don't have time to loose with things like this."

"If you don't answer the question, sunshine, then I'll have to take it as a yes."

_HELL NO!_

"Damnit, FINE!" the pinkette said reluctantly. "Yes, he's 'hot', as you said, but I'm NOT interested nor do I have the time to BE interested!" she shouted.

"Finally some honesty!" Fang exclaimed, making a 'hurray' motion with her arms. "Was it so hard?"

"It would be easier if you weren't so annoying!"

"You're forcing me to annoy you with your turtle syndrome!"

"Is that supposed to be an insult?!"

"No! That's a statement!"

As they continued to bicker, Lightning didn't notice the familiar figure that was making its way toward them, wondering who could be so noisy. It was only when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat that she stopped talking to look at the intruder. Instantly recognizing the platinum hair and the green eyes that were looking at them, Lightning palmed her face with a groan as Fang's jaw dropped.

_Talk about bad timing… 'Speak of the devil' as they say._

"May I ask… what you ladies are talking about so loudly?" the teacher asked as he looked around. "And why does it look like a hurricane stormed the very place itself?" he added after a pause.

Lightning just groaned louder as Fang bursted in laugher.

"Nothing, sir! Just girl stuff, y' know." the dark-haired said as she stood up. "As for the room... well, my friend and I were just having our usual sparring session, that's all."

"What Fang is trying to say, Mr Estheim, is that it was nothing serious." Lightning tried to explain.

The said philosophy teacher raised an eyebrow at her. "If by 'sparring session" and 'nothing serious' you are talking about those bruises that I'm seeing over your arms, legs, and faces, then I'm sorry to say that I disgree." he replied before narrowing his eyes. "This is NOT nothing. That, or the meaning of the word 'sparring' has changed since the last time I checked."

Fang only laughed louder at that. "Believe me, mister, that was just a spar. If it had been a real fight, the whole room would've been reduced to the ground by now!"

"Is that so?" Mr Estheim said, looking at the bronze-skinned woman. "I guess I should be grateful that I've come in time to stop this 'spar' from turning into a 'fight'." the man sighed slightly before he looked at them and crossed his arms. "But now, you are going to put this room back to how it was before and then you will both come with me to the sick bay in order to treat those bruises."

Lightning just stood there, speechless at what was happening before her. Any other teacher would've scolded them harshly or punished them by now!

Fang managed to calm herself from her laugher and smiled brightly at the platinum-haired man. "Oh? And how d'ya intend to make me listen to ya if I don't want to?" she said as she stepped toward him.

Estheim only raised a curious eyebrow as he brought his hand to his chin. "I did not think about something like that. I just assumed you would do it since it was you who wrecked the place. But if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you. I'm not the type to force people into doing something they don't wish to do." he replied with a shrug.

For a moment the whole room felt silent.

_Is he serious?_

Lightning couldn't help but think again that indeed, for once, the gossip was true about him being way different than the other teachers she was used to.

Fang started to laugh again. "Well! Ain't ya an interesting one! I think I like you already Mr... Estheim, right?" she said between her laughs before turning to Lightning. "Alright, let's clean this up, Farron."

Lightning's jaw dropped at that.

_Fang, listening to a teacher?! This must be a dream. Yep, I'm dreaming and I'm going to wake up._

"Well, miss Farron? You're not going to let your friend do all the work by herself, are you?" said teacher's voice snapped her back to reality.

"N-no, sir. I was just lost in my thoughts." Lightning replied before she hurried to move the crates in their original place and pick up the boxing gloves that had fallen from it.

"If either of you needs help, don't hesitate to ask." she heard Estheim say.

As they were returning the room back to it's state before their spar, Lightning could feel the gaze of the teacher on them. Occasionally, he would come to fix something that didn't seem right to him or make a remark on the dents their spar had left on some objects. All in all, it took them a good ten minutes to put everything back into place.

"Now that this has been taken care of, let us treat those bruises." Estheim said, apparently satisfied of their work. "If you'll follow me to the sick bay." he added but Fang raised a hand to stop him.

"I'll pass. There's some stuff I have to take care of. And 'sides, I'm used to getting bruises like these." she said.

Not wasting the opportunity, Lightning quickly added her own part. "Sorry, Mr Estheim, but I'll pass as well. I still have work to do and I don't wish to worry my sister."

The silver haired teacher looked at both of them for a moment before sighing. "Very well. I'll let you off this time." Lightning let out a sigh of relief but he raised one finger at them. "But! If I find you in a similar state, or worse, you WILL come to the sick bay, period. Am I clear?" he said and Lightning had to repress the urge to salute.

"Yes, sir." both she and Fang replied.

Estheim nodded. "Well then, I wish you a good evening, miss Farron, miss Oerba Yun." he said before going for the teachers' parking, leaving the two of them in the gymnasium.

As soon as he was gone, they went straight for the exit of the complex. As they were walking, Fang elbowed her.

"Damn! How can you NOT be interested, sunshine?! Guy's hot! Even by my standards! And that's sayin' something." the dark-haired told her friend.

Lightning just huffed. "I told you: I don't have the time to be interested and it wouldn't work out anyway."

Fang sighed. "All this seriousness, professional and no-nonsense attitude are going to kill you, Farron. You should relax a bit."

"Again, Fang, I just don't have the time for it. And I can't believe I'm saying this but without the money Snow was sparing from his part time job to help Serra and I, I would have quit my studies and been gone to the army by now."

"Ha! I can already see it: 'Sergent Lightning Farron, pride of our country's army'." her friend replied in a dreamy voice before laughing. "From a cop to a soldier, talk about a change! But don't you worry, sunshine. If you or Serah ever have some problems, you can always come to me an' Vanille and you can be sure that we'll help ya! There's now way we'd let our friends down. 'Sides, I don't think the old man would let you quit your studies anyway."

"Sometimes, I wonder if you and Mr Katzroy aren't relatives..." Lightning muttered under her breath.

"Who knows? Maybe the old man and I have common roots that go way back in time" Fang joked

But Lightning had to admit that her friend was right.

Sazh Katzroy, the headmaster of the academy, was like a second father to a lot of students. The 'old man', as Fang called him, was always spending a lot of time and effort in helping and talking to the students. Some even said that he knew the names of every single person in the academy.

When her and Serah's parents had passed away in a traffic accident, Mr Katzroy had come personally to the their home after the funerals to talk to them. It had been quite a shock for Lightning to see the forty years old man with his afro standing at her door. After quite a long discussion about the Farron sisters' future, the headmaster had left them with those words: "If you need help, just ask me and I'll do everything I can."

Considering the man's personality, Fang was probably saying the truth about him never letting her drop her studies. He might even pay them himself rather than watch her go to the army.

"Well then, I'm off! Take care sunshine!" Fang said as she jogged away.

"Right. Don't force too much, Fang!" Lightning said as she watched her friend leave.

"Yeah yeah!" the dark-haired waved her off without looking back.

"That girl... seriously..." Lightning muttered as she shook her head.

_But I have no right to judge her. I was the same, not that long ago._

Looking at her bruised hand, she sighed.

_How am I gonna find a good excuse for that? Serah is gonna be pissed..._

-Hope's POV-

Hope sighed as he laid the files on his desk. All in all, a bit less than three hundred students had written their names on the lists in the hope of attending his classes. Some had even send notes to him in his personal locker. He knew in advance that he was most likely to choose students from the last tier of the lists since they were those who still had written their names after all the others and therefore the ones that were the most likely to take his classes seriously.

But he knew that he was still in for a restless evening spent in checking every student's file thoroughly. Fortunately enough, the headmaster had given him the files that he himself had made so Hope wouldn't have to check the students on the academy's network. And, truth to be told, the personal impression the headmaster had of every student was intriguing him.

Taking a deep breath and passing a hand into his silver hair, he opened the first file.

"_Rachel Wilder. 2__nd__ year in sciences, doesn't seem to have interest in anything in particular, marks are below average... expert in seduction? Had six official boyfriends last year along with three 'unofficial' ones? Comes from a rich family. Spoiled and egocentric brat?!"_

Hope blinked, making sure his eyes hadn't imagined things. Nope, this was indeed what the headmaster himself had wrote about the student. If that was how the old man was doing things, Hope wasn't sure what he was going to see in those files.

"_Oh well... No use dwelling over it. That's one out, let's check the next one. Hum... Alexandra Race. 3__rd__ year in physics, average marks, aims to become a... dancer and... marry a celebrity? Dancing club... has received two warnings for bullying in and outside the school. Probably rackets younger students?!"_

This time, Hope pinched the bridge of his nose. Was this a big joke or was the headmaster serious in his judgment?

"_Another one out, I guess. Next is... Leia Rolland. 2__nd__ year in communication, marks slightly below average, aims to become a journalist. Captain of the volleyball club? Master of the broom?! 'One cute little ball of energy, always cheerful and ready to help. A bit of a klutz though'?!"_

Joined to the file were actual photos of the girl and Hope couldn't help but laugh slightly at the situation the gril was into when they had been taken. She had short light brown hair and always had a broom near her, which apparently she didn't have any hesitation in swinging.

With a shake of his head, Hope closed the file and laid it on the small table beside him. He already had one possible student on the third file. He chuckled again as he took the next file.

"_At least, I'm not gonna get bored anytime soon."_

And so, four a few hours, the silver haired teacher continued to go through the files of his potential students. After he had done the first hundred, he had quickly understood he would have to reduce the list once again later. At the rate the files were piling up on the table, he would reach fifty in no time.

"_I guess it was too early to judge. There are some promising students indeed. I may end up with having two classes if this goes on. Now, let's see..." _His eyes widened at the name of the next file. _"Claire 'Lightning' Farron. 2__nd__ year in sciences. Good marks, has no clear goal at the moment. Known as the 'Ice Queen' by many people. Was a street fighter until recently along with Fang Oerba Yun and now have a part-time job inside the police. The girl's attitude changed drastically after she and her sister's parents passed away. She was more lively being a troublemaker. I considered getting an acquittance of mine for a psychological examination but decided to wait and see how things would turn out. I hope that their situation will become better in time."_

Hope lowered the file. He had known at first glance that there was something different about this girl compared to the other students but that wasn't what he had expected. He thought that, if anything, she was just more realistic than most of them but it wasn't the case.

"_She has learned that the world isn't full of rainbows and smiles the hard way. Just like I did..."_

In his mind, the image of a silver haired woman smiling at him was replaced by another scenery. A train crash, with a bloodied fourteen years old Hope clutching the lifeless body of Nora Estheim, his mother.

"_Maybe we're more similar than I thought."_

Placing the file apart from the others on the table, Hope released a breath he didn't know he was holding and took the next file. The night had only just began and he still had work to do.

**There you go folks! Chapter two is here after quite a long time. Once again, I apologize for the delay and feel free to review to express your thoughts and opinions!**

**This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Unknown Shores", signing out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, but you know how writer block and studies mix with writing! Anyway, I give you this third chapter of "Unknown Shores"! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Lightning's POV

As she neared her and Serah's home, Lightning couldn't help but sigh. And she had good reasons to. One was her tiredness, both physically and mentally, from today's ordeals and another was that she knew her sister would scold her for the bruises she got. But her main reason for sighing was-

"Hey! Sis! You're home! Serah was starting to worry!"

…because Snow was coming for dinner.

"For the umpteenth time, Snow, I am NOT your sister!" she all but shouted at the blond giant.

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be so uptight, sis. Besides, Serah and I are engaged! So you'll become my sister sooner or later." the oaf of a man replied.

Lightning shook her head. "I still can't believe you managed to make me agree to that..." she muttered.

"Hey, I still can't either. But enough talkin' about that, come inside! Serah's waiting for us." Snow replied as he turned around and went back inside.

The pinkette simply rolled her eyes before she followed. Snow was a big oaf, that was a fact, but he really cared for Serah. So, in a way, she was glad she could rely on someone to protect her sister in her place when she couldn't.

_Not that I'd ever admit it though._

The house was rather modest, two floors and a total of six rooms, but it had always been the Farron's home since she was born. All in all, Lightning was glad they had managed to keep the house instead of selling it and move to an apartment. The spare money that came from her and Snow's part-time jobs managed to pay most of the monthly loan and they still was enough money on her parents' accounts to sustain them for a long time.

_Enough time until things settle and I can work full time._

Lightning took off her jacket as Snow barged into the living room.

"Serah! Sis's home!" he yelled and few seconds later, soft steps could be heard coming from the room.

"Welcome back, Claire." the younger Farron said with a soft smile. She was wearing a white apron and had tied her hair into a small ponytail, a sign that she had started cooking.

"Thanks, Serah. I'm sorry I'm late but Fang kind of held me up." she replied as she neared her sister.

"Again? What did she do this time?" the small pinkette asked with a frown, hands on her hips.

Lightning decided to tell the truth. She simply couldn't lie to her sister. "Would you believe me if I told you she used a freaking street sign as a makeshift club?"

"Unfortunately, that sounds just like Fang." Serah replied with a sigh as she brought a hand to her forehead ans shook her head. "But enough about that. You're home, and that's all that matters. When do you start your shift?"

The elder sister looked up at the clock as she took off her shoes. It showed 7:38 pm.

"I still have a bit more than an hour before I must leave. I start a nine hundred sharp."

One hour was more than enough time for her to eat and, as it only took five minutes from here to the police station, she hoped to relax a bit. Maybe take a shower. Of course, there was homework too, but it was nothing that she couldn't finish in less than half an hour. Hopefully, nothing would happen tonight and she'd be back by midnight.

"Food will be ready soon. I'm making an omelet with some side dishes, since I figured you'd want to eat quickly."

"Again, sorry. I wish I could spend more time here, but... you know how things are."

Serah shook her head. "You're already doing so much, Claire. It's the least I can do. Besides, if I wasn't cooking, you would just order pizza. And you KNOW pizza is bad for your body. Now go wash up your hands."

Lightning shook her head as she went upstairs.

_Sometimes, I wonder who's the big sister here... Still, I guess I can consider myself lucky she didn't saw the bruises._

"Don't forget the first aid kit is in the closet!"

_God damn it..._

With a sigh, the elder Farron entered the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror as she started to wash her hands.

_I've been better, but I've been worse too._

Taking the first aid kit from the closet above the sink, Lightning applied some ointment to her bruises. She knew they wouldn't go away immediately, but it was better than let them turning a nasty blue and hurt for several days.

Quickly washing her face, she dried the few hair that became wet and flicked them behind her ears. Lightning still couldn't believe that some guys found her attractive. Her hairstyle was designed to be practical, not beautiful. She wasn't one to be interested into fashion either. All in all, she wasn't behaving like a girl her age.

Yet, there were still a bunch of idiots who, as Fang putted it, 'had the hots' for her. But she hadn't been titled the ice queen for nothing. A couple of well placed words along with a piercing glare had sent most of them running back to their mothers.

Keyword being 'most'.

She didn't know if she could consider Cid Raines as a maniac or a lunatic. While he was one of the few people in the academy that she could more or less normally talk with, he seemed to view her as someone would an interesting piece of machinery. Thus, Lightning wasn't sure of how to act around him.

And then, there was also that guy... Kiam Bhunivelze.

If Cid was a maniac, Kiam was a stalker and a freak. The guy seemed to follow her everywhere, note everything that she was doing and worship the very ground she was walking on. He had even created an entire website, along with a forum, dedicated about her. Not being one for that sort of thing, Lightning hadn't noticed anything until people started to give her weird looks. It had been Serah who had discovered and informed her of the website's existence. After seeing it's contents, which included journal entries, stolen pictures of her (some of them more outrageous than others), poems and some other things, the elder Farron had gone into a righteous fury. It had taken all of her control not to beat the guy to a pulp and she had to resort to threaten to sue him for violation of her private life in order for the website to be closed and its contents deleted.

After that, she had smashed every single camera she would have spotted him using. It didn't matter to her if he needed it for an assignment or if it was for something else entirely. Should she catch him with one of those devices in hand, she would smash it, period.

Lightning shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. She would deal with both of them in due time, if it was ever needed.

Once finished, the elder Farron made her way back into the living room. She found Serah at her cooking, watching over a stove, and Snow lazily looking at a TV show. Fortunately for him, the table had already been set up, else she would have scolded him.

_Not that he wouldn't deserve it. Maybe he will stop being an oaf at some point. Though I highly doubt it._

"Ah, sis. Just in time. Food will be ready in a few seconds, so sit down." Serah said before turning to her fiancé. "Snow, turn off the TV and bring me the plates, please."

The tall blonde pressed a button on the remote before he sprang up from the couch. "Right away, princess." he said as he took the plates and gave them to the small pinkette.

Lightning simply sat on her chair, situated at the end of the table, and closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling of relaxation she felt.

It was still strange for her to be able to relax like this once inside their home, moreover after all that had happened, but she wasn't going to complain. The few years that had come after her parents' death had been hard, both for her and Serah.

Her sister had become shy and quiet instead, in contrast of the bundle of energy that she had always been before, and didn't smile as often as she had in the past. As for Lightning, she had steeled herself, changing from a normal teenage girl into an adult in a span of days, knowing that it was up to her to keep them afloat.

Snow, as much as she hated to admit it, had managed to put a stop to the perpetual tension they were living in by being here for Serah. He had managed to bring back the smile that Lightning had thought was gone forever. Plus, the fact that he had spared money from his job for them, allowing the two to continue living in their house instead of moving, made Lightning respect the blond ever so lightly.

_Not that I'd ever admit it._

"Claire?"

The elder Farron snapped out of her reverie and looked up at Serah, who was watching her with a slightly worried gaze.

Lightning simply shook her head. "It's nothing. I was just lost in my thoughts."

Serah looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "If you say so. It's not like you to space out like that though."

Lightning gave her sister a smile. A small one, but a smile still. "Don't worry about it, it's not important. That aside, I have good news for you." she said as she started to eat the omlet and rice that was in her plate.

Serah perked up at that. "And that would be?"

The elder Farron swallowed her mouthful of food. "Starting next week, I'll be attending philosophy class, and the teacher said you were welcomed to attend."

The look on her sister's face, Lightning decided, was princeless. She was looking at her, eyes and mouth wide open in disbelief, and her fork had fallen from her hand.

"You're joking." the small pinkette said as she found her voice.

Lightning shook her head. "I'm not. You'll be able to study with me in class whenever you can or want to. Any note I take is also yours to see."

She had barely finished her sentence that Serah had jumped out of her chair to embrace her in a tight hug.

"Thank you, sis! Thank you!"

Lightning more or less returned the hug for a few seconds before breaking away.

"Come on, let's finish eating first. After that, I'll give you the notes I took during his introduction and you can read them while I'm at work."

Serah raised an eyebrow. "'His'? I thought that the philosophy teacher was a woman."

"Mrs Etro quitted last year, remember? So we have a new teacher for this year."

"Right, I had forgot! So, how's he like? Is he good?" Serah asked.

"Well, from the first impression I got of him, he's different from the other teachers. But in a good way. You'll see for yourself when you meet him. He's quite young though, to be a teacher." Lightning replied.

Her sister nodded. "And his name?"

"His name is Hope Estheim." she answered.

As she said those words, a metallic sound resonated in the room and both sisters turned to Snow, who had been listening the whole time. He was looking at Lightning with wide eyes, his hand halfway to his mouth and his fork inside his plate.

"'Estheim'? Sis, are you sure his name's Estheim?" the blond asked urgently.

Lightning raised an eyebrow at her sister's fiancé. "Yes, I'm sure. Why?"

Snow gave a her an incredulous look that slightly irritated her. "Come on, sis! Everybody know the guy!"

"Know what?!" she snapped. "if you know something, then say it!"

"Hellooo! Hope Estheim, son of Bartholomew Estheim and former heir to the Cocoon Enterprises? The guy who refused to take over after his father retired, denying one of the biggest fortunes in the last ten years? It's been all over the news for a whole week! Even I know about him!"

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence in the room.

_You've got to be kidding me._

"So that's why his name sounded familiar." Serah mused.

"Just to be sure, sis, did he have short and messy platinum hair and green eyes?" Snow asked Lightning, who nodded. "Well, I'll be damned. The guy decided to become a teacher, moreover a philosphy teacher. Of all things, that might be the farthest from a business man."

Lightning didn't reply. She was lost in her thoughts about the young teacher. Hope hadn't stroke her as the son of an enterprise's director, yet alone as one. Nothing in him had hinted that he was someone important, or even rich. Perhaps it was because he just didn't fit the image of a business man at all.

_But why would he refuse to take over his father's position? Surely he must have some good reason._

The elder Farron shook her head and stood up. "It doesn't matter. It's in the past. He isn't Hope Estheim, heir to a wealthy company. He is Hope Estheim, philosophy teacher at Nova Chrysalia Academy. That's all there is to it." she said as she dumped her plate into the sink and went upstairs to prepare for her shift.

As she put her uniform, one thought crossed her mind.

_Why did I even say that?_

* * *

In the meantime, at his home, Hope Estheim sneezed.

The teacher looked around him, but there was no window open and the air conditioner was off.

_Someone must be talking about me._

Shrugging, he went back to the student file he was looking over. There was work to be done.

* * *

**And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed that and, again, sorry about the wait.**

**Review and give me your opinion, it makes my day!**

**This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Unknown Shores", signing out.**


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